Whosits, Whatsits and the Balkan Conflicts....

​Jam Session Review for 10th August

22 jammers turned up for this one: a low key affair, more "keep the racket down" from the bar, one remarkable improver, enlivened by at least one train wreck, and we all went home at 6.00, chastened but unbowed.

Whosits: Calamatta made for a good start, Blue Bossa etc., six saxophones in all, vocals from Ruth, Jane (the Santana number nearly made trainwreck status), Rose who managed to mangle three consecutive endings (see The Secret below) and Gary who was the best voice in quite a while, but featured in the trainwreck - no fault of his, but it was great to hear the jammers reverting to their traditional standard (... above which we shall not rise.)

Guitarists Powell, Broatch and Evans, shall remain nameless - which is a bit harsh as they all were good. Adam, Ivan and Kaori on bass: and we will pick out Kaori who has gone from basic to starting to sound confident in just one week: and already has rock solid time.

Steve lent an air of respectability on the fiddle - and it always nice to have someone sensible on the stand. Mike Frost, the Hirsch on drums -  both restrained, and Mike on bongos - haven't seen that since the Leinster days.

And one lone piano player somewhat knackered after a fourth session in three days.

Whatsits: So... the trainwreck:

Three sheets of score on a dimly lit stand is not a good start: mea culpa. By the time the tune had got to its third key change, the bass, saxophone and guitars were playing in three different keys -and the singer in a fourth: alios culpandi. Having no clue as to which of the four keys might or might not be the right one, the piano player elected to sit back and admire the others wrestling the ballad to a heaving standstill -  splendid debacle, haven't done that for years. It was a good tune and we should try it again.​

It felt like a low key, quiet day: no bad thing. There were plenty of punters who alleged that they were enjoying the music, and maybe not quite enough jammers drinking and/or eating to excess. We can fix that later...

The mid nineteenth century Balkan conflicts? You may well ask but that will have to wait.

See ya next Sunday? Toodlepip!​​